Hiring for the Future of Logistics

Paige DeLacey

According to Ian Nichol, head of logistics at Career Ready, the supply chain industry is expected to need an additional 1.2 million employees by 2022. Trucking companies, which have been impacted significantly by growing employment gaps, are hiring at the fastest pace in years. Fleets reported adding 18,500 new jobs in the first quarter of 2018, the highest quarterly job growth since 2012 for trucking.

This lines up with recent reports that logistics and freight transport companies added 18,700 jobs in May due to the increasing demand in U.S. shipping markets. That’s a staggering 73,000 new jobs in the transportation and warehousing sector since the beginning of 2018.

As baby boomers enter retirement and e-commerce grows at an incredible rate, the need for more employees in transportation only deepens.

However, even with the coming labor crunch, simply finding more bodies isn’t the answer. Flexport is working on creating the new operating system for global trade, and we know that making trade easy for everyone is dependent on the right talent that the industry so desperately needs.

Here at Flexport, we’re investing in people.

Andy Kaye, chief executive of BiS Henderson, recently said, “Around 25-33% of [supply chain] employees are nearing retirement age, while at the same time the logistics industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy.

“The way we manage our lives now, with e-commerce, means that logistics and supply chains support the growth of the wider economy. But how do we get people to understand that? This sector has done very, very little to attract new talent into the industry.”

We of course know that the answer to the logistics, transportation, and warehouse employment issue isn’t just posting more job ads. We must innovate to attract innovators.

Flexport merges software, human expertise, and physical infrastructure to connect humanity in a seamless web of global trade. And our investment in technology doesn’t just help our customers easily move their products from origin to destination. It’s also a crucial component of attracting top talent and raising awareness for an industry ready for transformation.

In 2018, we’re planning on hiring over 500 people across a range of opportunities for new graduates. Operations recruits across our nine global offices, and we’re bringing on world-class engineering and product team members at San Francisco HQ in addition to roles in people, finance, and workplace.

Our top priority is hiring the best candidates to create the most valuable experience for our customers. We’re fast at work growing a diverse and inclusive environment that attracts problem solvers — people who are excited to build something that others have never seen or experienced. These are the team members who use emojis to move freight, start carbon offset programs to reduce emissions, and solve some very complex problems on a regular basis.

It’s admittedly difficult to get everyone on board when you’re creating something that doesn’t exist yet. Building the operating system for global trade is an audacious goal, but we know that it’s time for the internet and trade to intersect.

This is one of the most exciting times to join the logistics industry.

There has never been a more pressing time to embrace and hire for the future of logistics. Flexport is committed to hiring the most talented individuals as we work toward making global trade easy for everyone.